National Park to undergo major renovation

Fort Donelson National Battlefield curatorial ranger, Susan Hawkins, right, watches as one member of a team of curators packs precious artifacts up for storage in a climate-controlled location while the visitor center is renovated and made handicap accessible.(Photo: The Stewart Houston Times/Bonnie Lill)

DOVER, Tenn. – Fort Donelson National Battlefield Superintendent Brian McCutchen becomes emotional when he talks about the major

renovation going on at the park’s visitor center – and well he should. This is the culmination of a dream he has had since coming to the park in October of 2012.

“This is a huge endeavor,” he told Chamber of Commerce members at a recent meeting. “It will be almost a 100 percent new visitor center inside of the current shell. This is long overdue.”

Indeed, the visitor center currently has much the same interior functionality and safety as it did when he visited it as a young child, which is problematic in the 21st century. Once the renovations are finished, the visitor center may look much the same from the outside, but the inside will be updated and upgraded.

Visitor center improvements have actually been in the works for years. A new center was the dream of the past two superintendents, but the millions of dollars in funding for such a facility was elusive.

McCutchen said that the Regional Director of the Park Service was aware prior to his coming to the park that his (McCutchen’s) priority would be to make the visitor center safe and accessible, and it was apparent that the NPS was amenable to that. As soon as he arrived, McCutchen started looking for funding sources, and he found it in a special competitive source designated specifically for accessibility, safety and sustainability projects.

Fort Donelson is the largest project funded through that source to date, the significant deficiencies and needs of the visitor center recognized National Park Service-wide.

And for McCutchen, this is only a beginning.

“From here we wish to address accessibility in many other areas of the battlefield,” he said confidently.

The project

McCutchen said the $900,000 project will address the visitor’s center accessibility, sustainability and safety and will bring the 53-year-old building into compliance with today’s standards, particularly the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA).

In 2014, the park received the funding to address the building’s most significant needs.

In late 2014, a design/build contract was awarded to KHDM Construction LLC, a contractor with extensive experience in national park infrastructure improvements. The contract includes:

•Constructing a restroom on the building’s main floor, and retrofitting lower level restrooms and offices to make them ADA compliant;

•Installing ADA/ABA compliant motorized doors;

•Providing emergency egress or safety areas for the theater, museum and basement levels;

•Installing fire suppression and sprinkler systems;

•Installing an improved radon monitoring and removal system;

•Analyzing and removing necessary Asbestos containing materials;

•Installing a new, insulated roofing system;

•Building a bookstore with adjacent office on the main level;

•Installing a central, zoned, energy efficient HVAC system;

•Installing new electrical, networking and alarm infrastructure.

New digs – for a while

The project involves the closure of the park’s visitor center for a number of months, well into 2016.

In the meantime, Stewart County Mayor Rick Joiner has offered them space in the county Visitor Center on U.S. 79 across the road and a little west of the park entrance.

A ranger will be present at the temporary site in the Visitor Center daily, and it will have benefits for both park and county.

“We have a wonderful relationship with the county and appreciate their offer of assistance,” McCutchen said. “This is a great opportunity for the county, in order to expose park visitors from across the nation, and in many cases, the world, to additional information and exhibits about Stewart County and surrounding area.”

The superintendent said that large signs at the park would direct visitors to the Stewart County Visitor Center.

Where’s the stuff?

A team of curators from across the region packs artifacts up - very carefully - as the Fort Donelson National Battlefield Museum items go into storage for several months during renovations at the park's visitor center.(Photo: The Stewart Houston Times/Bonnie Lill)

To protect and preserve precious aging artifacts at Fort Donelson, a team of curators from across the NPS Southeastern Region has spent a

week in the museum, packing, cataloging and inventorying the items, which will be transported to a safe, climate-controlled storage area specifically for Fort Donelson. There is no danger of the artifacts winding up in another park or lost in a black hole.

Mary Troy is the Chief of Museum Services of the Southeast Regional Office of the Division of Cultural Resources for the National Park Service, and it is she who assembled the team of seven curators.

“There are 66 parks in the region, and I talked to all of them to get volunteers,” she said, adding that this is the usual procedure when moving artifacts, regardless if the move is large or small.

“I work with good people,” she went on. “We learn from each other – there is always something new to learn.”

The team is working closely with Ranger Susan Hawkins, who has assumed curatorial duties at the park.

Packing everything up properly and labeling it clearly involves some creativity, and Hawkins scores high marks in that category. Boxes and bins are custom-made for each item, and in order to know exactly what is in each package, Hawkins has photographed each item and has used those photos as part of each label.

This simple act eliminates a lot of potential confusion.

Troy said that in an undertaking as large as at Fort Donelson, the “move plan” was developed in May.

Once here in September, they started with the easiest items and move up to the more challenging ones.

“Many of the artifacts are awkward,” she said, using as an example the flag that is in a large, flat, glass-front case. “There is a lot in here, but (as of Sept. 15), everything is going along well.”

Troy said that there are many precious artifacts in the collection, but she is particularly drawn to the drum (there are not many of those left) and the textiles, as well as the Voltaire Twombly Medal of Honor. Twombly was the fourth person to grab and display the Union flag during fighting at Fort Donelson in 1862, the previous three flagbearers being killed or wounded. His family donated his medal of honor to the park after his death in 1918.

The future

McCutchen is already anxiously awaiting the day the new visitor center, complete with its glass-encased elevator, is ready for the public.

He feels that this project is pivotal to analyzing the battlefield’s infrastructure for ADA/ABA accessibility and safety in the areas of parking, access to resources, and in providing for greater visitor experiences on the national park.

“We have several areas on the battlefield to improve for access, and we are eager to work with partners in analyzing other critical needs and mutually working toward solutions.

“When the renovation is completed, the park’s visitor center will be an accessible, safer, and more sustainable facility that meets the expectations of today’s visitors,” McCutchen continued. “National park visitors expect to have access to facilities that meet their needs and bring wonderful memories. It is our intention that the renovated visitor center meets those expectations.”